Arame was old, 70 years when he steped down from power and went to the holy Lake Van, mirror of the gods, to seek wisdom from his ancestors (the old king would die 2 years later, his unfinished manuscript describing the rise of Uratu would become official history). His first son Hyak II had been killed in battle, so his second son Tigran I suceeded the throne. One of Tigran's first actions was to send the order to rebuild the newly conquered lands of North Syria, as the region would come to be called. An announcement was made, that the locals, if they chose, would get to keep their customs, temples and deities, as long as they respected the Armenians as libirators and as governers. Most surprisingly, he took the daughter of a local vizer as his wife, thus cementing Armenin legitimacy in the region. The system of local government employed in the North, where a governor appointed from the capital ruled alongside a trusted local tribal cheif was applied here to, except the local ruler was not a cheif, but usually a mayor or other former low-level bureaucrat in the Assyrian leadership, and the capital apointed governer had more power.
Many people in the conquered lands would also adopt (at least in part), the Armenian religion, which warshiped its ancestors, and the depths of Lake Van as the home of departed souls. The sky was ruled by a pantheon of deities, including Khaldi, god of the mountains (early Armenian discriptions describe him as a war god, and he is still occasionally prayed to as such), Theispas god of Storms and of War, Hebat queen of the gods and godess of nature and finally Shivini, god of the sun. The religion would also adopt local customs. For example, the name Hebat is imported from North Syria, the godesses origional name was Huba, and her importance in legends grew as Armenia expanded Southwards. There where also many other minor gods, and even several mortals ascended into godhood warshiped throughout Armenia, and this pantheon was never standardized. For example, Hyak I, the warlord who supposedly founded Armenia, and for whom Arame named his dynasty and ill-fated first son, is often warshiped in the North as the father of the Armenian people. His wife, Arubani the godess of fertility is seen as the mother. Neither of these customs ever took off in North Syria, where local foundation myths where tolerated and prefered. Fortunatly, the disorganized polytheistic Armenian pantheon could unproblematically assimilate these new belifes, simply by adding a few more minor dieties.
OOC: My religion is similar to IRL Uratu's, but I took some liberties with moving around gods for my own ammusement.
I'm following the agreement to the letter, no backstabs at all.
